The Appellate Court of Maryland Tuesday reinstated the conviction of Adnan Syed for the 1999 murder of Hae Min Lee and remanded the case. Hae Min Lee’s brother Young Lee appealed the vacature of Syed’s conviction on the grounds that he did not receive notice of Syed’s hearing. In his appeal, Lee argued that he [...]

The UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) Tuesday called for authorities in El Salvador to address human rights concerns as the nation marks one year in a state of emergency. Authorities enacted the state of emergency on March 27, 2022 following a wave of gang-related murders. The measure was initially for [...]

US Representatives Adam Schiff (D-CA) and Mark Takano (D-CA) Tuesday urged Twitter CEO Elon Musk to address the rise in hate speech on the social media platform since he purchased it in October 2022. Schiff and Takano originally urged Musk to investigate the increased hate speech in December, at which point they reported a 61.3 [...]

US federal prosecutors Tuesday charged Samuel Bankman-Fried, former CEO and co-founder of crypto trading platform FTX, with bribing Chinese government officials in early 2021 as part of a superseding indictment. In the indictment, prosecutors accused Bankman-Fried of paying Chinese government officials $40 million to unfreeze cryptocurrency trading accounts on two of China’s largest cryptocurrency exchanges. [...]

Human Rights Watch (HRW) Monday called on Vietnamese authorities to immediately release human rights activist Truong Van Dung. Van Dung was arrested and charged in May 2022 with “conducting propaganda against the government.” The organization further urged the government to drop all charges against Van Dung as he awaits trial and faces a sentence of [...]

Burkina Faso Monday announced that it will suspend broadcasts from France 24, a French international news network, after the network aired an interview with the head of Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM). The interview effectively classifies France 24 as a “communications agency for these terrorists,” according to Minister of Communication Jean-Emmanuel Ouedraogo. “France [...]

Malaysia’s Parliament Monday began its consideration of two bills introduced to abolish mandatory death penalties for certain sentences. The Abolition of Mandatory Death Penalty Bill of 2023 would reverse prior laws that require a mandatory death sentence for 33 different offenses. While the bill would not completely abolish the use of the death penalty, it [...]

Press freedom groups in Hong Kong, including Hong Kong Journalist Association (HKJA) and Reporters Without Borders (RSF), Monday condemned the region’s harassment of journalists. In a statement issued Monday, HKJA expressed its concern for a female Hong Kong Free Press (HKFP) journalist who was tailed by two men as she left her home to go [...]

The US Supreme Court Monday declined to hear Steven Donziger v. United States, a case concerning a human rights lawyer charged with multiple criminal counts of contempt and prosecuted by special prosecutors. Justices Neil Gorsuch and Brett Kavanaugh dissented and would have heard the appeal. Gorsuch argued that the appointment of the private attorneys as [...]

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu Monday announced that he will delay proposed reforms of Israel’s judicial system. The postponement comes in the face of mass protests, diplomatic resignations, job walkouts and increasing opposition from members of Netanyahu’s party, foreign governments and NGOs. “When there’s an opportunity to avoid civil war through dialogue, I, as prime [...]